Rutgers School of Public Health

The Rutgers School of Public Health is a graduate program located within the town of

Piscataway (New Brunswick Campus) within the state of New Jersey. The graduate program

offers masters and doctoral level degrees in eight facets of public health. The university was

originally founded with joint venture in the year 1983 by the coalition of University of Medicine

and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey. In the

early years, the graduate program was known as the New Jersey Graduate Program in Public

Health (NJGPPH) and the program only offered masters level degrees. In 1986, the Council on

Education accredited the NJGPPH for Public Health, and then in 1991 the NJGPPH transferred

to the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute. In 1998, the school’s name

was changed to the UMDNJ - School of Public Health and campuses were established within

Newark, New Jersey. With addition of the Stratford Campus (located in Stratford, New Jersey)

in the year of 2001, the School of Public health received full accreditation as the first

collaborative graduate school of public health. Dr. Audrey R. Gotsch, DrPh, CHES was named

as the founding dean. Consequently the same year, Frank R. Lautenberg Annual Award and

Lecture in Public Health was established. In 2003, the school expanded its campus in New

Brunswick, NJ. In 2013, Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey, acquired UMDNJ and

the school was renamed to the Rutgers School of Public Health.

The School of Public health abides by its mission “to seek to improve health and prevent

disease in diverse populations in New Jersey and around the world through educating students to

become well-qualified and effective public health leaders, researchers and practitioners;

conducting research to advance public health science and policies; and providing service

programs that promote population and individual health”. The students enrolled within the

School of Public Health are given access to a wealth of resources, services, and opportunities

that allows them to be in direct collaboration with a wide variety of industries and professionals.

The research programs offer training and experience for young professionals practicing in the

fields of environmental health, occupational health, health economics, and research projects in

tobacco dependence and community living education.

The School of Public Health offers multiple degree, dual-degree, and articulated degree

programs with four-year undergraduate colleges in the state of New Jersey. The degree programs

offered at the School of Public Health include Masters of Public Health (MPH), Masters of

Science in Biostatistics (MS), Masters of Science in Pharmaceutical Biostatistics (MS), a

Masters of Science in Health Outcomes, Policy, and Economics and a PhD, or a DrPh in Public

Health. The current departments of study include Biostatistics, Dental Public Health,

Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health, Health Education and Behavioral

Science, Health Systems and Policy, Quantitative Methods, and Urban Health Administration.

The most competitive program amongst applicants is said to be the doctoral program. The most

popular program is the Masters of Public Health (MPH) program. The School of Public Health

also offers continuing education programs for professionals looking to stay knowledgeable and

earn credits in the current topics of their respective professions. The Dominican Republic

Outreach Program has given students the opportunity to visit an impoverished community in a

developing nation and help in the planning and application of public health policies learned

within the classroom setting. Since 2003, students have used their experiences to broaden their

perspective on international public health by seeing the impact of extreme poverty “face to face”.

Furthermore, students assist with the implementation of public health initiatives such as disease

screening, parasite prevention programs, and health prevention.

The CLEP (Community Living Education Project) is a service that the Rutgers School of

Public Health provides for individuals that have developmental disabilities while residing in New

Jersey. The program provides community-based setting for people with developmental

disabilities to live as opposed to living in an institutional setting. The CLEP initiative offers a

sense of comfort and normalcy to the disabled by allowing the individuals to be fully engaged

with other segments of society without the stigma of being in a hospital. This gives loved ones

the opportunity to spend time with the disabled individuals in a much more private setting. CLEP

also offers outreach programs designed to educate families on the concept of community living

to keep the individuals engaged in the numerous activities that CLEP has to offer. Organizers of

the CLEP program have produced a magazine entitled, “My Life Now!” that highlights some of

the success stories that developmentally disabled individuals have who are enrolled in the

program and are thriving because of it. In addition to the annual publication, CLEP offers

residents and their families a bi-annual newsletter entitled “New Beginnings in Community

Living”, which informs readers of the event calendar, latest news concerning residents and other

resources designed to keep families informed.

The current administrative leadership at the Rutgers School of Public Health is headed by

Interim Dean George G. Rhoads, MD, MPH, CPH. Dean Rhoads served as the chair to the

Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention for the CDC from 2006 - 2012.

Dean Rhoads also serves as the President elect of the American Epidemiological Society. Judy

Hagberg serves as the assistant to the Dean. Melanie Smith-Pasternak is the Business Manager at

the Office of Business and Finance. Alan Monheit, PhD serves as the Associate Dean for

Academic and Faculty Affairs in the Office of Academic and Faculty Affairs. Irene Karmazsin is

the coordinator of faculty/staff affairs at the Office of Academic and Faculty Affairs. The Office

of the Registrar has Darlene Benzenberg who serves as the Associate University Registrar and

Vanaretter Cramer who is the Staff Assistant. The Office of Research ad Sponsored Programs

has Patrick Clifford, PhD, who serves as the Associate Dean for Research and Latona Thompson

- Grants Administrator. The Office of Student and Alumni Affairs has Shou-En Lu, PhD, who is

the Assistant Dean for Student and Alumni Affairs, and Bianca M. Freda, MPH, serves as the

Adjunct Instructor.

The Rutgers School of Public Health has produced a strategic plan that is being

implemented with four core goals: 1) Excellence in Education, accomplished through preparing

current and future public health practitioners and researchers with the competencies necessary to

promote the health of diverse populations. 2) Excellence in Research, this is done by advancing

public health science, and practice through innovative research. 3) Excellence in Service,

accomplished by developing and sustaining the public health practice, and service programs

through educational engagement, and community and professional service. 4) Strategic priorities

for growth, accomplished by positioning the school to grow and excel in selected areas. These

core goals enable students to be well prepared by the staff that provides a curriculum that is not

only challenging but also enriching. For more information on the Rutgers School of Public

Health, research, donations, or application, please attend sph.rutgers.edu